When Jermain Jackman auditioned for The Voice in 2014 and was picked by Will.i.am. The encounter was seen as a wonderful twist of fate, the sort that is ideal for TV talent shows when vocal performances alone wont do. The pair had met a couple of years previously when a teenage Jackman, then just a budding singer and youth politician, was at the Radio 1 One Big weekend show in his hometown of Hackney. The meeting led to the decision to appear on the BBC talent show and the rest is history. Jermain auditioned, was chosen by his ideal mentor and won the series by winning over the public with his old-fashioned style, soulful voice and his mature take on the world.
Now the one-time reality show star has revealed that an entirely different figure is also largely responsible for his success in both Music and politics. That man is Jeremy Corbyn.
According to Jackman, Corbyn 'discovered' this future star long before he would come to meet Will.i.am in Hackney.
Acting within his role as the MP for his constituency, Corbyn was a judge at a talent show held at the Islington Arts and Media school. It was here that he heard an 11 year old pupil named Jermain Jackman sing. Corbyn was impressed and decided to showcase this talent to a wider audience. Jermain soon became a star on Corbyn's circuit of media events and campaign rallies, singing songs to boost the voter's spirits.
Jackman's story in the music industry is familiar. He had his 15 minutes of fame off of the back of his talent show win, sold a reasonable amount of copies of his solo album and took some time off to consider his options. Now in his early twenties, he has put singing to one side but is still interested in politics, having enrolled in a politics degree at Leeds University.
He hopes to be singing for decades to come, but his clearer goal is to become Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington and reunite with the man that set his unusual career in motion. One day he could be singing at national Labour events and introducing the Labour leader.
